News Item

Politico: New York water experts debate diminished role of EPA

04/13/2017

Politico: New York water experts debate diminished role of EPA

By David Giambusso

04/13/2017 05:40 PM EDT

A panel of former New York regulators and water academics could not agree Thursday on the federal government's role in managing clean water, but they did generally see danger ahead for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump.

New York State recently allocated $2.5 billion to address water infrastructure issues. The money is directed toward contaminant cleanup, wastewater treatment, sewage overflow and flooding, among other issues. At the same time the EPA is rolling back and reviewing rules it sees as hampering industry, such as one this week limiting toxic discharge form coal plants.

"Water is not very high on the national political agenda. Water is often a very local issue," said Peter Gleick, president emeritus and chief scientist of the Pacific Institute, as part of a conference at Pace University on water issues in a changing climate. "Most of our water problems and challenges are local and should be managed locally."

Judith Enck, former EPA Region 2 administrator under former President Barack Obama, said while local action is crucial, the federal government can hamper progress if it willingly chooses not to enforce fundamental laws, such as the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act.

"We're not going to get to the goal of fishable, swimmable waters if the federal government is on the sidelines, and not only that but affirmatively doing bad things for water," she said.

The goal of fishable, swimmable waters was built into the Clean Water Act. Former New York City Department of Environmental Protection commissioner Christopher Ward questioned whether the billions in spending to reach that goal was realistic.

"We're never going to be in a position to buy all the things we want," he said.

But panelists said the "swimmable, fishable" provision was meant to foster marine life, which has iterative benefits for local ecosystems. Moreover, they said, shortchanging water cleanup now will result in more expensive solutions in the future.

"We don't have a real understanding of the cost of not doing things ... and who bears those costs," Gleick said. "If we had a better understanding here, we'd realize that it's cheaper to do a lot of these things than not do them."

Despite the "back to basics" rhetoric coming from the White House, though, clean water is a basic necessity for public health, panelists said. A recent Reuters poll showed 60 percent of Americans favor keeping EPA as strong or stronger than it currently is.

Enck used cleanup of the Gowanus Canal, a federal Superfund site, as an example of the bipartisan support for clean water.

"The interest in restoring the Gowanus canal is incredible. It's not just the Riverkeepers. It's the neighborhood folks. It's a guy called Jared Kushner," she said. "I'm a big believer in that when the people lead, the leaders will follow, and the people of Brooklyn and Queens are getting it."

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